Former barrister-turned-police informant Nicola Gobbo’s trial against the State of Victoria starts today in the Melbourne Supreme Court. Despite pushing for a jury trial, Gobbo’s lawsuit will be determined by a judge alone due to the public coverage of the case, as ruled by Justice Andrew Keough in early September.
So who is Nicola Gobbo? Why is she suing the state of Victoria? Here’s a rundown of what we know so far.
Who is Nicola Gobbo?
Nicola Gobbo is a former criminal lawyer and the niece of former Victorian governor Sir James Gobbo. While studying law at Melbourne University in 1995, Nicola Gobbo registered as a police informant for the first time to provide information about her then-partner, who was a known criminal wanted by police.
In 1998 she was admitted to the bar and a year later began a second stint as a police informant. Gobbo’s third stint in the mid-2000s is the reason behind this trial. During this period Gobbo represented some of Victoria’s most notorious criminals during Melbourne’s gangland war, she provided police with information about her clients.
Why is she suing the State of Victoria?
In 2018, Commissioner Maragret McMurdo was appointed to lead the Victorian Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants.
During the Royal Commission, a Court of Appeal suppression order was lifted making the identity of Gobbo as Lawyer X and informer 3838 public. After her identity was revealed, a letter written by Gobbo to Victoria Police was published in which she expressed her horror at the leak of Lawyer X information.
“A Google search of my name is quite literally sickening (to me), let alone googling ‘Lawyer X scandal’,” she said.
The commission found that over one thousand convictions or findings of guilt may have been affected by Victoria Police using Gobbo. Faruk Orman became the first person to have his conviction overturned as a result of the scandal.
Gobbo is suing the state for damages to her life both professionally and mentally. Due to the information being leaked and the implications it could have on her health, as well as the risk to her safety Victoria Police caused when they used her as an informant.
What’s wrong with a lawyer informing the police?
The communication lawyers have with their clients are protected by legal professional privilege. This allows clients to talk knowing the information won’t be used against them in court. It also enables lawyers to give advice, with understanding of the full story.
This becomes an issue when lawyers provide information to police about the people they’re representing. In Gobbo’s case she was providing police with information on her own clients while defending them, conflicting the justice system by acting as a police agent, instead of being independent from the prosecution.
What happens next?
Last year the Victorian government passed a bill limiting any civil claims related to the ‘Lawyer X’ case to $1 million.
Photo: Victorian Parliament by Michael Mazengarb is available HEREand is used under a Creative Commons License. This image has not been modified.
